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Any cricket lover is aware of the fact that IPL is more about muscle power, entertainment and partying and less about cricketing technique and talent. Not sure if Ashwin has felt that IPL is falling short of controversies after the famous fixing scandal during which Sreesanth has occupied the headlines for all wrong reasons. But he has provided enough meat to the public and media to keep them engaged till the end of IPL 2019. During their first match in IPL, Ashwin, who is the captain of Kings XI Punjab, mankanded Jos Bulter when he was dominating bowlers with his splendid shots all over the ground. It would have been a smooth journey for Rajasthan Royals had Bulter batted till the end.
What is Mankading?
Named after legendary Indian bowler Vinoo Mankad, ‘Mankading’ is a method of run out where a bowler dismisses a non-striker by hitting the bails before bowling when the latter is outside the crease.
This incident has made the cricket fans and players furious as many of them felt that it was against the spirit of the game. And, there is also a certain lot who bolstered Ashwin’s perspective saying that the act is absolutely fine as it is in the legal boundaries. In my perspective, any incident has two aspects to it, one is the legal aspect and the other one is the emotional aspect. So the incident that happened during that match might be correct legally but it is not carrying enough weight to fall in the category of emotionally correct.
Let us look at some incidents in cricket which cannot be considered as abiding by the spirit of the game. During the 1932-33 series against England, the great Don Bradman had to face body line bowling from the opponents who didn’t find any way to break through the solid technique he possessed. There was a huge uproar against that body line bowling. It is legal to bowl to your body, as long as it is in limits of not to be called as a no-ball, but should we support the life-threatening body line bowling? Bowling a beamer as long as it is below the waist is legal, but can we consider that as fair bowling?
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One must be under pressure and desperate to find their name in the squad for the upcoming world cup, but it is never justified to rely on such tactics to get a batsman out. It might be considered fair had warned the batsman at least once. One has to get inspired by the examples set by
Daniel Vettori, who appealed to the umpire and his teammates to let Regis Chakabva continue his innings after he was declared run-out due to a collision between both of them.
MS Dhoni, who recalled Ian Bell during a test match when he left his crease thinking that the ball hit by the batsman on the other end reached the boundary and got run out.
GR Vishwanath, who let Bob Taylor continue his innings after declared out by a catch caught by Vishwanath at the slips because Vishwanath knew that the sound was from the bat hitting the pad and not from the ball hitting the bat.
